Vehicle control apparatus

ABSTRACT

A vehicle control apparatus for implementing inter-vehicle distance control of a vehicle carrying the apparatus behind a preceding vehicle. In the apparatus, an offset storage is configured to calculate an offset that is a difference between detected distances to first and second targets, and store the offset associated with the first target forward of the second target. The inter-vehicle distance control may be implemented based on a distance calculated by subtracting the offset from the detected distance to the first target. An offset eraser is configured to, based on the presence or absence of relative displacement between the first and second targets, determine whether or not the first and second targets belong to different vehicles, and when the first and second targets belong to different vehicles, erase the offset stored by the offset storage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority fromearlier Japanese Patent Applications No. 2014-143709 filed Jul. 11,2014, the descriptions of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control apparatus forcontrolling an inter-vehicle distance between a vehicle carrying theapparatus and a preceding vehicle.

2. Related Art

A known vehicle control apparatus, as disclosed in the internationalpublication WO2014/038076, is configured to control travel of a vehiclecarrying the apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a subject vehicle) tobring an inter-vehicle distance between the subject vehicle and apreceding vehicle to a target inter-vehicle distance. Such a vehiclecontrol apparatus may use a radar device to transmit radar waves to thefront of the subject vehicle and receive reflected waves from a targetto generate target information about the target. The target informationincludes a separation distance between the subject vehicle and thetarget, a relative speed and a lateral position of the target relativeto the subject vehicle, and others.

Further, based on the target information, two or more targets, among aplurality of targets, that exhibit the same behaviour are determined asbelonging to the same preceding vehicle, and the inter-vehicle distancecontrol is implemented to follow the target that is closest to thesubject vehicle among the two or more targets on the same precedingvehicle (hereinafter referred to as a rear-end target). A separationdistance between the rear-end target and another one of the two or moretargets that is forward of the rear-end target (hereinafter referred toas a forward target) is stored as an offset. This allows a position ofthe rear-end target to be estimated using the offset and a detecteddistance from the subject vehicle to the forward target even when therear-end target is no longer detected, for example, upon the subjectvehicle approaching the preceding vehicle. Thus, the inter-vehicledistance control to follow the rear-end target of the preceding vehiclecan be continued.

However, in the presence of two targets on the preceding vehicle, oneforward of the other, the two targets may not remain unchanged infore-and-aft position, but either or both of the two targets may beforward or rearward displaced unexpectedly due to various factors. Then,there is concern that the inter-vehicle distance control cannot beimplemented correctly without taking into account such displacement.

In consideration of the foregoing, exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure are directed to providing a vehicle control apparatus capableof properly implementing inter-vehicle distance control of a vehiclecarrying the apparatus behind a preceding vehicle.

SUMMARY

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,there is provided a vehicle control apparatus for implementinginter-vehicle distance control of a vehicle carrying the apparatusbehind a preceding vehicle based on reflected waves from at least onetarget that is a reflecting portion of the preceding vehicle, thevehicle carrying the apparatus being referred to as a subject vehicle,the reflected waves being radar waves transmitted to a front of thesubject vehicle and then reflected from the at least one target. Theapparatus includes: a target information acquirer configured to acquiretarget information about each of the at least one target from thereflected waves, the target information including a detected distancefrom the subject vehicle to the target of the preceding vehicle; anoffset storage configured to, in the presence of first and secondtargets forward of the subject vehicle, the first target being forwardof the second target, the second target being recognized as a rear endof the preceding vehicle, calculate and store an offset associated withthe first target, the offset being a difference between the detecteddistance to the first target and the detected distance to the secondtarget; and a controller configured to implement the inter-vehicledistance control to follow the second target based on the detecteddistance to the second target, and when the second target fails to bedetected, implement the inter-vehicle distance control based on adistance calculated by subtracting the offset associated with the firsttarget stored by the offset storage from the detected distance to thefirst target. The apparatus further includes an offset eraser configuredto, based on the presence or absence of relative displacement betweenthe first and second targets, determine whether or not the first andsecond targets belong to different vehicles, and when it is determinedthat the first and second targets belong to different vehicles, erasethe offset associated with the first target stored by the offsetstorage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle control system in accordance withone embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an ACC ECU;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are examples of target displacement;

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a scenario in which an offset is set for aplurality of vehicles;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an offset update process; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an offset erase process.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. A vehicle control apparatus inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure is configuredto implement adaptive cruise control, that is, control a distance from avehicle carrying the apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a subjectvehicle) to a preceding vehicle detected by the radar or the like to atarget distance (referred to as a target inter-vehicle distance) as afunction of a speed of the preceding vehicle during following travel.When the preceding vehicle is stopped, the subject vehicle stops at aproper distance from the preceding vehicle. When travel of the precedingvehicle is restarted, the subject vehicle restarts the following travelwhile maintaining the distance to the preceding vehicle in accordancewith the speed of the preceding vehicle. When the preceding vehicleceases to be detected, the subject vehicle suspends the following traveland transitions to steady state cruising at a vehicle speed set by adriver of the subject vehicle.

The vehicle control apparatus of the present embodiment is equipped witha full speed range adaptive cruise control (ACC) function. The fullspeed range refers to a range from zero or a very low speed to apredefined high speed (e.g., a legal speed or an upper limit speed setby the driver or the like). Enabling the adaptive cruise control in thefull speed range (particularly in a low speed range) can reduce adriving load caused by frequent start/stop operations during a trafficjam. Although the inter-vehicle distance control, the following traveland the adaptive cruise control do not have the same meaning, they areused interchangeably in the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, an adaptive cruise control (ACC) apparatus 100includes a radar device 11, an adaptive cruise control (ACC) electroniccontrol unit (ECU) 12 (as the vehicle control apparatus), an engine ECU13, and a brake ECU 14. The ACC ECU 12 is configured to implement theadaptive cruise control in conjunction with the radar device 11 andother ECUs.

The radar device 11 and the ECUs 12-14 are connected communicatively toeach other via an onboard network, such as a controller area network(CAN). An adaptive cruise control (ACC) switch 15 is connected to theACC ECU 12 via an exclusive line, such as a serial communication line. Atransmission 16, a throttle motor 17, and a throttle sensor 18 areconnected to the engine ECU 13 via exclusive lines. A vehicle-speedsensor 19 and a brake actuator (brake ACT) 20 are connected to the brakeECU via exclusive lines.

Each of the radar device 11 and the ECUs 12-14 is an informationprocessor including a microcomputer, a power supply, a wiring harnessinterface and others. The microcomputer is of a well-known configurationincluding CPU, ROM, RAM, an input/output interface (I/O), and a CANcommunication device. The CPU loads programs stored in the ROM into theRAM and executes the programs to receive signals from the sensors viathe input/output interface and control the actuator and the like. TheCAN communication device transmits data to and receives data from theother ECUs 12-14 and others via the CAN. It will be appreciated thatpartitioning of functions described later between these ECUs 12-14 isexemplary and other partitioning of functions between these ECUs 12-14is also possible.

The radar device 11, which is an example of means for detecting adistance from the subject vehicle to the preceding vehicle, isconfigured to detect, for each target, a distance to the target and arelative speed and a lateral position of the target, and provide thedetection result to the ACC ECU 12.

The radar device 11 is configured to transmit a radio-frequency signalin a millimeter waveband as transmit waves. In the present embodiment,any one of a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) approach and apulsed-radar approach and other well-known approaches may be used in theradar device 11 according to the type of transmission. The pulsed radaris configured to transmit the radar waves while changing thetransmission direction of the transmit waves in a predeterminedtransmission range and determine a direction of a target from thetransmission direction when reflected waves from the target arereceived. The FMCW approach will now be briefly explained.

The radar device 11 includes a transceiver 11 a for transmitting andreceiving radar waves. The transceiver 11 a is configured to transmitthe radar waves within a predetermined forward transmission range of theradar while linearly increasing the frequency with time at apredetermined increase rate and then linearly decreasing the frequencywith time at a predetermined decrease rate. The radar waves reflectedfrom a target forward of the subject vehicle are received by a pluralityof antennas. The received waves are mixed with the transmit waves togenerate a beat signal. The transceiver 11 a is attached to the frontside of the subject vehicle, such as a vehicle front grille, a bumper, aroof, a pillar or the like, at a position of a predetermined height.

A distance calculator 11 b is configured to calculate a distance to thetarget based on the beat signal. That is, there are relations:

fr=(fb1+fb2)/2, and

fd=(fb2−fb1)/2.

Here fb1 is a beat frequency in the upsweep interval, fb2 is a beatfrequency in the downsweep interval, fr is a Doppler frequency at arelative speed of zero, and fd is a Doppler frequency at a non-zerorelative speed (increased or decreased amount of frequency). Since theincrease rate and the decrease rate are known, there is a fixedrelationship between fr and the distance to the target. Therefore, thedistance calculator 11 b can calculate the distance to the target basedon fb1 and fb2.

A Doppler frequency that is a variation in frequency between thetransmit and receive waves is due to the Doppler effect. Therefore,there will be a fixed relationship between the relative speed and fd. Arelative speed calculator 11 c is configured to calculate the relativespeed based on fb1 and fb2. The relative speed is defined by the speedof the subject vehicle minus the speed of the preceding vehicle. Therelative speed takes a positive value when the distance decreases. Therelative speed takes a negative value when the distance increases.

To acquire the beat frequencies fb1, fb2 from the beat signal, forexample, Fourier transformation is applied to the beat signal in adigital signal processor (DSP) to analyze in which frequency band aprime component is present. Peaks occur at the power maxima in thespectrum of the beat signal. Thus, the beat frequencies are determinedby peak frequencies of the beat signal (i.e., frequencies at which peaksappear that are equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold).Such peaks are indicative of the presence of a target.

A relative speed calculator 11 c is configured to determine the beatfrequency fb1 from a peak in the upsweep interval and the beat frequencyfb2 from a peak in the downsweep interval. Thus, the distance to thetarget and the relative speed of the target can be detected. In thepresence of a plurality of targets in the transmission range of theradar, a plurality of peaks may be detected in each of the upsweep anddownsweep intervals.

A direction calculator 11 d is configured to calculate a direction (or alateral position) of a target relative to a frontal direction of thesubject vehicle. The transceiver 11 a has a plurality of receiveantennas. When the target is present, other than in front of the subjectvehicle, the beat signals received by the respective receive antennasare different in phase. Therefore, the direction of the target can becalculated using phase differences between the beat signals. Phases atthe beat frequencies can be calculated through the Fouriertransformation. In a monopulse method, the direction of the target canbe calculated as follows. When the target is not present in the frontaldirection of the subject vehicle, there is a path difference between thereflected waves received by two antennas. The path difference can bedetermined by a spacing between the two antennas and directions of thetwo antennas. Using the spacing between the receive antennas,wavelengths of the radio waves, and a fixed relationship between thephase difference and the path difference, the direction of the targetcorresponding to the path difference can be calculated from the phasedifference between the beat signals received by the two receiveantennas.

Alternatively, the direction of the target may be determined usingdigital beam forming (DBF) where a phased array antenna is realized bysignal processing. For example, advancing or retarding the phase of oneof beat signals received by two receive antennas that are different inphase allows the beat signals to match in phase where the signalintensity becomes maximal. Therefore, by changing the amount of phaseshift of the beat signals received by the respective receive antennasand calculating a sum of signal intensities, the target can be estimatedto be present in a direction corresponding to the amount of phase shiftat which the total signal intensity becomes maximal. In the presentembodiment, other methods for detecting the target direction includingmultiple signal classification (MUSIC) analysis, CAPON analysis andothers may be used.

The radar device 11 is configured to transmit target informationincluding the distance to the target and the relative speed and thedirection of the target to the ACC ECU 12 every scan. In each scan, asdescribed above, the frequency of the transmit wave is linearlyincreased in the upsweep interval and then linearly decreased in thedownsweep interval subsequent to the upsweep interval. In the presenceof a plurality of targets, the radar device 11 is configured to transmittarget information about each of the targets to the ACC ECU 12 everyscan. The radar device 11 is configured to update the target informationevery predetermined time period. The predetermined time period for oneupdate cycle is set to, for example, 50 msec.

The ACC ECU 12 is configured to, based on the target information, acurrent vehicle speed, an acceleration and the like received from theradar device 11, transmit required drive forces or brake demand or thelike to another ECU.

The adaptive cruise control (ACC) switch 15 is configured to, whenoperated by the driver of the subject vehicle to permit the full speedrange adaptive cruise control, notify the ACC ECU 12 of it. For example,the adaptive cruise control (ACC) switch 15 is configured to notify tothe ACC ECU 12 operational signals, such as signals for turning ON orOFF of the full speed range adaptive cruise control, switching betweenan adaptive cruise control mode and a constant speed control mode,settings of a vehicle speed for constant speed travel, settings of theinter-vehicle distance, and others. In the present embodiment, it isassumed that the subject vehicle travels in the adaptive cruise controlmode. In the absence of a preceding vehicle, the subject vehicle remainsin the adaptive cruise control mode and travels at a constant speed,which will be described later in more detail.

The engine ECU 13 is configured to control the throttle motor 17 whilemonitoring a throttle opening detected by the throttle sensor 18. Forexample, based on a table showing throttle openings corresponding tovehicle speeds and acceleration instruction values, the engine ECU 13determines the throttle opening corresponding to the accelerationinstruction value received from the ACC ECU 12 and the current vehiclespeed. In addition, the engine ECU 13 determines the need for a gearchange based on an up-shift line and a down-shift line predefined forthe vehicle speed and the throttle opening, and if necessary, instructthe transmission 16 to change the gear. The transmission 16 may includea known mechanism, such as the automatic transmission (AT) or thecontinuously variable transmission (CVT).

The brake ECU 14 is configured to brake the subject vehicle bycontrolling opening and closing and a degree of opening of the valve ofthe brake ACT 20. The brake ACT 20 is configured to control theacceleration (deceleration) of the subject vehicle by increasing,maintaining, or decreasing the wheel cylinder pressure for each wheel.The brake ECU 14 is configured to brake the subject vehicle in responseto the acceleration instruction value from the ACC ECU 12.

The acceleration instruction value determined by the ACC ECU 12 istransmitted to the engine ECU 13 and the brake ECU 14. As a result, thethrottle motor 17 or the brake ACT 20 is controlled so that the subjectvehicle can travel following the preceding vehicle while maintaining thetarget inter-vehicle distance. Under control of the engine ECU 13 andthe brake ECU 14, the throttle opening may be increased, the throttleopening may be fully closed to decelerate the subject vehicle via enginebraking, air resistance, or rolling resistance, or the throttle openingmay be fully closed to decelerate the subject vehicle by the brake act20 increasing the wheel cylinder pressure.

(Functions of ACC ECU)

FIG. 2 shows a functional block of the ACC ECU 12.

The ACC ECU 12 includes a target information acquirer 31, a targetinformation recorder 32, a rear-end target determiner 33, a distancecalculator 34, an adaptive cruise controller 35, and a targetinformation database (DB) 40.

The target information acquirer 31 is configured to acquire targetinformation about one or more targets from the radar device 11. Thetarget information recorder 32 is configured to assign a uniqueidentifier (ID) to each target and record target information associatedwith each target. The target information about each target includes adistance, a relative speed, and a lateral position of the target, and anoffset (described later).

For each target, the lateral position of the target is a position of thetarget in the widthwise direction of the subject vehicle relative to thelateral center of the subject vehicle, and is calculated from thedirection of the target and the distance to the target. The rightdirection from the lateral center of the subject vehicle may be definedas a positive direction, and the left direction from the lateral centerof the subject vehicle may be defined as a negative direction. In thefull speed range ACC, the subject vehicle follows the preceding vehiclethat is closest to the subject vehicle and does not have to followpreceding vehicles traveling in lanes other than the traveling lane ofthe subject vehicle that is a lane in which the subject vehicle istraveling. Therefore, the target or targets, information of which has tobe recorded, may belong to the preceding vehicle traveling in the samelane as the subject vehicle.

In the presence of two targets (first and second targets) forward of thesubject vehicle, one forward of the other (the first target being theforward one, the second target being the rear one), the offset is aseparation distance between the two targets and stored in associationwith the forward one.

The radar device 11 is configured to transmit the target informationevery cycle. The target information recorder 32 is configured to assignthe same identifier to the same target and record the target informationin the target information DB 40. For example, when a difference betweena lateral position of a first target received from the radar device 11and a lateral position of a second target recorded in the targetinformation DB 40 is equal to or less than a possible maximumlateral-position variation for one cycle, the first and second targetsmay be determined as the same target. Alternatively, when a differencebetween a distance to a first target received from the radar device 11and a distance to a second target recorded in the target information DB40 is equal to or less than a possible maximum distance variation forone cycle, the first and second targets may be determined as the sametarget. Then, the target information recorder 32 updates the targetinformation associated with the same identifier recorded in the targetinformation DB 40. The target information recorder 32, together with thetarget information DB 40, serves as an offset storage configured to, inthe presence of first and second targets forward of the subject vehicle,the first target being forward of the second target, the second targetbeing a target recognized as a rear end of the preceding vehicle,calculate and store an offset associated with the first target, theoffset being a difference between the detected distance to the firsttarget and the detected distance to the second target.

The rear-end target determiner 33 is configured to, based on the targetinformation, determine a target that is closest to the subject vehicleas a rear-end target. The distance calculator 34 is configured tocalculate a distance from the subject vehicle to the rear-end target (atthe rear end of the preceding vehicle) by subtracting the offsetassociated with a forward target (a target forward of the rear-endtarget) from a detected distance to the forward target. In the presenceof a plurality of forward targets present forward of the rear end of thepreceding vehicle, the distance calculator 34 is configured tocalculate, for each of the forward targets, a distance to the rear endof the preceding vehicle by subtracting the offset associated with theforward target from the detected distance to the forward target, andthen select, as a corrected distance to the rear-end target, a shortestone of the calculated distances for the respective forward targets. Theadaptive cruise controller 35 is configured to implement the adaptivecruise control based on the corrected distance to the rear-end targetcalculated by the distance calculator 34.

The target information recorder 32 includes an offset updater 32 a andan offset eraser 32 b. The offset updater 32 a is configured todetermine whether or not a relative distance between forward and reartargets has increased or decreased in the traveling direction of thesubject vehicle, and when it is determined that the relative distancethe forward and rear targets has varied by a predetermined distance ormore, update the offset.

That is, in the presence of two targets (as first and second targets) onthe preceding vehicle, one forward of the other (the first target beinga forward target, and the second target being a rear target), the twotargets may not remain unchanged in fore-and-aft position, but either orboth of the two targets may be forward or rearward displacedunexpectedly due to various factors, such as dimensions, shapes or thelike of the reflecting portions. For example, in the case of a vehiclehaving a small area rear end and a relatively large area backsideportion forward of the rear end, such as a car carrier trailer, as shownin FIG. 3A, both the backside portion 73 and a portion of the vehiclerearward of the backside portion 73 may be recognized as individualtargets. However, the rear end 71 of the preceding vehicle may not benecessarily recognized as a target that is closest to the subjectvehicle (i.e., the rear-end target). In such a case, either the rear end71 or a middle portion 72 forward of the rear end 71 may be recognizedas the rear-end target. In addition, a situation in which the rear-endtarget is recognized may change arbitrarily during travel of thevehicle. An offset value may change as the situation changes, which mayaffect the adaptive cruise control.

In the case of a car carrier trailer having a plurality of supportpillars as shown in FIG. 3B, the target 81 that has been recognized asthe forward target may be displaced to a position 81 a forward of thetarget 81 or to a position 81 b rearward of the target 81 in thetraveling direction of the subject vehicle. In such a case, the adaptivecruise control may be affected unless the offset update in conjunctionwith such target displacement is taken into account.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether or notthe relative distance between the forward and rear targets (as first andsecond targets) has increased or decreased, and if it is determined thatthe relative distance between the forward and rear targets has increasedor decreased, then the offset may be updated. With this configuration,even if one or more targets on the same object (e.g., the precedingvehicle) have been displaced unexpectedly, the proper adaptive cruisecontrol can be continually implemented while handling such targetdisplacement.

In addition, it can be envisaged that a new target belonging to the sameobject as the forward and rear targets (first and second targets)appears at a later time. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when sucha new target is detected, an offset is stored associated with the newtarget. The offset associated with the new target is calculated from ashortest one of the detected distances to the previously recognizedtargets and the detected distances to the previously recognized targetssubtracted by the offsets respectively associated with the previouslyrecognized targets, if any. This allows the adaptive cruise control tofollow the rear-end target to be implemented using the new target.

The offset eraser 32 b is configured to determine whether or not twotargets, one forward of the other, considered to belong to the sameobject (that is the preceding vehicle) actually belong to differentobjects, and when it is determined that the two targets belong todifferent objects, erase (or invalidate) the offset calculated from thedetected distances of the two targets.

To detect a large vehicle, such as a car carrier trailer or the like, asa preceding vehicle, a detection zone forward of the subject vehicle maybe set relatively large. Therefore, when a plurality of vehicles arespaced apart from each other by short distances while travelingsubstantially at the same low speed during a traffic jam, the pluralityof vehicles may be recognized incorrectly as the same object (i.e., thepreceding vehicle). This leads to incorrect settings of offsets betweenthe different vehicles identified as the same vehicle. As a result,there is concern that the adaptive cruise control to follow thepreceding vehicle may fail to be implemented properly.

In the presence of two vehicles B and C, the vehicle C forward of thevehicle B, that are traveling forward of the subject vehicle A as shownin FIG. 4A, the vehicles B and C may be incorrectly recognized as thesame object (preceding vehicle). For example, in the case that thevehicle C traveling forward of the vehicle B that is greater in vehicleheight than the vehicle B is traveling substantially at the same speed,targets on the vehicles B and C (the target C1 being on the vehicle C,the target B1 being on the vehicle B) may be recognized at the sametime, which may cause the vehicles B and C to be recognized incorrectlyas the same vehicle. In such a case, an offset D of the target C1relative to the target B1, which is a difference between the detecteddistance from the subject vehicle A to the target C1 on the vehicle Cand the detected distance from the subject vehicle A to the target B1 onthe vehicle B, may be set associated with the target C1 on the vehicleC.

FIG. 4B shows a case that the vehicle B has left the same lane as thesubject vehicle A via a lane change or the like. In such a case, theinter-vehicle distance between the vehicle C and the subject vehicle Amay be unable to be controlled properly to a target inter-vehicledistance due to the presence of the offset D set associated with thevehicle C.

Therefore, the offset eraser 32 b is configured to, based on thepresence or absence of the relative displacement between the forward andrear targets, determine whether or not these targets belong to differentvehicles, and based on the determination result, erase the offset.

An offset updating process will now be explained. This process may beperformed in the offset updater 32 a of the ACC ECU 12 every cycle. Forexample, the offset updating process may be performed at the samefrequency as the acquisition of the target information from the radardevice 11. An offset erase process described later may also may beperformed at the same frequency as the acquisition of the targetinformation from the radar device 11.

Referring to FIG. 5, in step S10, it is determined based on the targetinformation acquired from the radar device 11 whether or not a newtarget has been detected. If in step S10 it is determined that no newtarget has been detected, then in step S11 it is determined whether ornot a relative distance between two targets, one forward of the other,if any, has varied. It may here be assumed that the rear target is arear-end target that is recognized as the rear end of the precedingvehicle.

If in step S11 it is determined that the relative distance between thetwo targets has varied, then in step S12 it is determined whether or notthe relative distance between the two targets has increased. In stepS13, an offset associated with the forward target is updated to beincreased by an amount of increase in relative distance between the twotargets.

If in step S12 it is determined that the relative distance between thetwo targets has decreased, then in step S14 it is determined whether ornot the forward target has been rearward displaced, that is, whether ornot the forward target has been displaced toward the subject vehicle.That is, it is determined whether or not the decrease in relativedistance between the two targets is due to the rearward displacement ofthe forward target. If in step S14 it is determined that the forwardtarget has been rearward displaced, then in step S15 it is determinedwhether or not an amount of displacement is equal to or greater than apredetermined value (e.g., 1 m). If in step S15 that the amount ofdisplacement is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, thenin step S13 the offset is updated to be decreased by the amount ofdisplacement of the forward target.

In the case that the relative distance between the two targets hasdecreased and the decrease in relative distance between the two targetsis due to the rearward displacement of the forward target, a rear-targetposition itself may remain unchanged. Therefore, unless the offsetassociated with the forward target is updated to be decreased, arecognized position of the rear end of the preceding vehicle may becometoo close to the subject vehicle, which may lead to an actualinter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle to the subject vehiclegreater than the target inter-vehicle distance under the adaptive cruisecontrol. In such a situation that the actual inter-vehicle distance fromthe preceding vehicle to the subject vehicle becomes greater than thetarget inter-vehicle distance under the adaptive cruise control, thereis concern that the subject vehicle may be braked earlier than intendedby the driver of the subject vehicle (for example, unexpected rapidbraking may occur). With this configuration of the present embodiment,the offset is updated in the case that the relative distance between thetwo targets has decreased and the decrease in relative distance betweenthe two targets is due to the rearward displacement of the forwardtarget (as the first target). This may prevent such a disadvantage thatunintended braking of the subject vehicle may occur.

In the case that the relative distance between the two targets hasincreased and the increase in the relative distance between the twotargets is due to rearward displacement of the rear target (as thesecond target) and the offset associated with the rear target is stored,it can be considered that a reflecting point at or closer to the rearend of the preceding vehicle has been detected. Also in such a case,unless the offset associated with the rear target is updated to bedecreased, a recognized position of the rear end of the precedingvehicle may become too close to the subject vehicle, which may lead toan actual inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle to thesubject vehicle greater than the target inter-vehicle distance under theadaptive cruise control. With this configuration of the presentembodiment, the offset is updated in the case that the increase in therelative distance between the two targets is due to the rearwarddisplacement of the rear target (as the second target). The offsetassociated with the rear target is updated based on the previous valueof the detected distance to the rear target subtracted by a stored valueof the offset associated with the rear target. This can preventvariations of the relative distance between the two targets, and canthus prevent unnecessary updating of the offset associated with theforward target (as the first target). This may prevent such adisadvantage that unintended braking of the subject vehicle may occur.

For each target, a determination of whether or not the target has beenrearward displaced can be made by determining whether or not an amountof variation in detected relative distance between the target and thesubject vehicle is equal to or greater than an amount of variation inestimated distance from the subject vehicle to the target calculatedbased on the relative speed between the target and the subject vehicleby a predetermined value.

If in step S10 it is determined that a new target has been detected,then in step S16 it is determined whether or not there is a targetrearward of the new target. If in step S16 it is determined that thereis a target rearward of the new target, then in step S17 an offset thatis a distance between the new target and the target rearward of the newtarget is stored or registered associated with the new target. If anoffset is stored associated with the target rearward of the new target,then this offset is also stored associated with the new target.

If in step S16 it is determined that there is no target rearward of thenew target, then in step S18, for each of the targets forward of the newtarget, an offset that is a distance between the target forward of thenew target and the new target is stored associated with the targetforward of the new target. That is, if a new target that is closer tothe subject vehicle than the current rear-end target is detected, thenew target, instead of the current target, is set as a new rear-endtarget. In addition, for each of the targets forward of the new target,an offset is stored or registered associated with the target forward ofthe new target, which is a distance between the target forward of thenew target and the new target. This allows the adaptive cruise controlto follow the rear-end of the preceding vehicle to be properlyimplemented.

If in step S11 it is not determined that the relative distance betweenthe two targets has varied, if in step S14 it is not determined that theforward target has been rearward displaced, or if in step S15 it is notdetermined that the amount of displacement is equal to or greater thanthe predetermined value, then the process ends.

The offset erase process will now be explained. The offset erase processmay be performed in the offset eraser 32 b of the target informationrecorder 32.

Referring to FIG. 6, in step S31, it is determined whether or not arelative speed between a pair of targets, one forward of the other, bothconsidered to belong to the same object (preceding vehicle) is equal toor greater than a predetermined relative speed. If in step S31 it isdetermined that the relative speed between the pair of targets is equalto or greater than the predetermined relative speed, then in step S32the offset stored associated with the forward target is erased becauseit is determined that the pair of targets do not belong to the sameobject. The relative speed between the pair of targets may be calculateda difference between the relative speed between the subject vehicle andone of the targets and the relative speed between the subject vehicleand the other of the targets.

If in step S31 it is determined that the relative speed between the pairof targets is less the predetermined relative speed, then in step S33 itis determined whether or not a difference in lateral position betweenthe pair of targets is equal to or greater than a predetermined lateraldistance. For example, it is determined whether or not a difference inlateral position between the pair of targets is equal to or greater thana vehicle width (for example, of the preceding vehicle). If in step S33it is determined that the difference in lateral position between thepair of targets is equal to or greater than the predetermined lateraldistance, then in step S32 the offset stored associated with the forwardone is erased. If in step S33 it is determined that the difference inlateral position between the pair of targets is less than thepredetermined lateral distance, that is, if it is determined that therelative speed between the pair of targets is less than thepredetermined relative speed and the difference in lateral positionbetween the pair of targets is less than the predetermined lateraldistance, then the process ends. In such a case, the offset storedassociated with the forward target is maintained.

The present embodiment of this disclosure can provide the followingadvantages.

(i) In the case that a plurality of vehicles are spaced apart from eachother by short distances while traveling substantially at the same lowspeed during a traffic jam, some of the vehicles aligned along thetraveling direction may be recognized incorrectly as the same object(i.e., the preceding vehicle), which may cause an offset to beincorrectly set. Thus, there is concern that the adaptive cruise controlmay be incorrectly implemented. Therefore, in the present embodiment,based on the presence or absence of relative displacement between thefirst and second targets, it is determined whether or not the targetsrecognized as belonging to the same vehicle belong to different objects,and based on the determination result, the offset is erased. With thisconfiguration, the offset incorrectly stored associated with the targeton a vehicle other than the preceding vehicle may be erased, whichallows the proper adaptive cruise control to be implemented.

(ii) Vehicle speeds and traveling lanes of different vehicles may bearbitrarily changed, resulting in different speeds and different lateralpositions relative to the subject vehicle. Therefore, monitoringvariations of the vehicle speeds and lateral positions of the differentvehicles relative to the subject vehicle allows which target belongs towhich of the different vehicles to be determined.

(Modifications)

Some modifications to the above embodiment that may be devised withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

(a) In the offset erase process described above, a condition for thevehicle speed of the subject vehicle may be added since during a trafficjam or the like two or more vehicles traveling at the same low speed arelikely to be misidentified as the same vehicle. More specifically, instep S31 of the offset erase process, it may be additionally determinedwhether or not the speed of the subject vehicle is less than apredetermined speed.

(b) In the embodiment described above, the radar device 11 is used as adistance detection sensor. Alternatively or additionally, a camera or astereoscopic camera may be used. Also with use of the camera or thestereoscopic camera, similar information about the target may beacquired. The radar and the stereoscopic camera are different in thedetection range and accuracy. Therefore, advantageously, the subjectvehicle may be equipped with both the radar and the stereoscopic camera,where the radar and the stereoscopic camera can be complementarily usedto implement sensor fusion based distance detection. That is, in thesensor fusion based distance detection, the stereoscopic camera may beused to acquire short-range distance information and a lateral positionof a near target that is difficult for the radar device 11 to detect,and the radar device 11 may be used to acquire mid- to long-rangedistance information and a lateral position of a remote target that isdifficult for the stereoscopic camera to detect.

Whereas particular embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed above as examples, it will be appreciated that variations ofthe details may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the presentinvention can be practiced by other than the disclosed embodiments, allof which are presented in this description for purposes of illustrationand not of limitation. It is noted that equivalents of the particularembodiments discussed in this description may result in the practice ofthis invention as well. Therefore, reference should be made to theappended claims rather than the foregoing discussion or examples whenassessing the scope of the invention in which exclusive rights areclaimed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle control apparatus for implementinginter-vehicle distance control of a vehicle carrying the apparatusbehind a preceding vehicle based on reflected waves from at least onetarget that is a reflecting portion of the preceding vehicle, thevehicle carrying the apparatus being referred to as a subject vehicle,the reflected waves being radar waves transmitted to a front of thesubject vehicle and then reflected from the at least one target, theapparatus comprising: a target information acquirer configured toacquire target information about each of the at least one target fromthe reflected waves, the target information including a detecteddistance from the subject vehicle to the target of the precedingvehicle; an offset storage configured to, in the presence of first andsecond targets forward of the subject vehicle, the first target beingforward of the second target, the second target being a targetrecognized as a rear end of the preceding vehicle, calculate and storean offset associated with the first target, the offset being adifference between the detected distance to the first target and thedetected distance to the second target; a controller configured toimplement the inter-vehicle distance control to follow the second targetbased on the detected distance to the second target, and when the secondtarget fails to be detected, implement the inter-vehicle distancecontrol based on a distance calculated by subtracting the offsetassociated with the first target stored by the offset storage from thedetected distance to the first target; and an offset eraser configuredto, based on the presence or absence of relative displacement betweenthe first and second targets, determine whether or not the first andsecond targets belong to different vehicles, and when it is determinedthat the first and second targets belong to different vehicles, erasethe offset associated with the first target stored by the offsetstorage.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the target informationfurther includes a relative speed between the subject vehicle and eachof the first and second targets, wherein the offset eraser is configuredto, based on comparison of the relative speed between the subjectvehicle and the first target and the relative speed between the subjectvehicle and the second target, determine the presence or absence ofrelative displacement between the first and second targets.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the target information further includes alateral position of each of the first and second targets relative to thesubject vehicle, wherein the offset eraser is configured to, based oncomparison of the lateral positions of the first and the second targets,determine the presence or absence of relative displacement between thefirst and second targets.